Assisting refugees

I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. - Matthew 25:35b

Nearly 35 million people around the world are uprooted from their homes and communities by persecution and armed conflict. The Immigration and Refugee Program of Church World Service (CWS/IRP) is an ecumenical family empowering churches to show hospitality to strangers, that is, to immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers and other uprooted people in the United States and around the world. CWS/IRP resettles about 8,000 refugees and entrants in the United States each year, and also helps meet the needs of people in protracted refugee situations and refugees returning home.

A Future with Hope: Welcoming Refugees Video (DVD)

The new CWS DVD “A Future with Hope: Welcoming Refugees” (running time: 15:25) inspires and challenges viewers to extend friendship and practical assistance to refugees resettling in the United States. Order online » | Watch a trailer on YouTube

Church fosters welcome for new neighbors from Burma

"If the knock is on the door, open the door! How can you not love your neighbor?" That is how the Rev. Bonnie Hollinger responds to anyone who asks her, “Should I get involved with refugees?”

Pastor Hollinger and members of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ (UCC) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, have helped Church World Service welcome 10 newly resettled Karen Burmese refugee families to their city during the past year. Read more »

CWS/IRP monthly newsletter

Read about our work in our monthly newsletter, Welcome
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World Refugee Survey 2008

http://www.refugees.org/
The annual survey by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants offers comprehensive statistics on sources and host countries for refugees.